Ezra Miller

The Dark Knight returns.

When we last left the caped crusader, things weren’t looking all that bright. Sure, he had a new super-friend in the form of Diana Prince, but Superman — the complete-stranger-turned-mortal-enemy-turned-best-friend in Batman’s life — has sacrificed his life to protect Earth (or something) and now the weight of protecting our planet rested heavily on the shoulders of Bruce Wayne. If Wayne could organize others like him, then maybe Earth could stand a fighting chance.

Writing about the latest developments in movie-centric news isn’t a bad job, by any means — I could be mining ore and plucking chickens like my Eastern European forefathers — but some days still make you wanna sharpen up your morning coffee with something a little stronger. The recent trend of movie studios airing brief mini-trailers to tease the release of upcoming slightly-longer trailers numbers among my least favorite developments in online buzz-cultivating, and leave it to Zack Snyder and the DC cinematic universe to take that to the next level. Running a trailer for the trailer is some weak-ass bull, the sort of thing those nerds at Marvel would do — this is DC, baby, where they run five trailers for the trailer.

If the D.C. Cinematic Universe has been chugging towards its Justice League centerpiece like a well-oiled machine, then The Flash solo movie is the one janky mechanism that keeps coming out of joint and necessitating repairs. Warner Bros. executives have been unable to pin down a creative team for the fastest man on the planet’s moment in the spotlight, having already lost original director Seth Grahame-Smith (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies) as well as replacement director Rick Famuyiwa (Dope) just this past Halloween. As the search continues for a director who won’t end up with ‘creative differences’ like the others — that’s movie slang for “refused to bend to the will of the studio” — Warner Bros. is ensuring that no trace of Famuyiwa will be left in the finished product.

If you turn up your screen’s brightness and squint really hard, you might be able to juuust make out the dim figures of Batman, the Flash, Cyborg, and Wonder Woman standing heroically in a new image from Justice League.

From the new heavy metal logo to set photos of Aquaman rocking a guitar and Ben Affleck’s Batman showing off his midlife crisis sunglasses, I’ve been pretty certain that Justice League is actually the story of how a Cool Dad puts together a hard rock cover band of superheroes. Thanks to an interview accompanying a new still from Zack Snyder’s film, my beliefs are, once again, validated.

As dour and moody as the DC films have been so far, it’s about time they throw some humor into the mix. A lot of the heroes who’ll be in Justice League haven’t been properly introduced to us yet, including Jason Momoa’s Aquaman and Ezra Miller’s Flash. It’s only Superman who will have had a solo introduction before Justice League kicks off, with Ben Affleck’s Batman getting his intro in the middle of essentially the second Superman movie. Luckily, Batman and the Flash will have some quality time to get to know one another, as, according to Ezra Miller, it sounds like the two will have a more buddy comedy-style relationship.

When the first trailer for Justice League premiered, we all knew Barry Allen was going to be our favorite right off the bat. A couple of funny quips, and we were sold. Which made the prospect of a solo Flash movie more exciting than it had been — this Flash is a far cry from the dour tones of something like Batman v. Superman. But with the movie shedding directors every few months, most recently with Dope helmer Rick Famuyiwa’s exit, hopes for the film began to wane. Luckily, we have the Flash himself, Ezra Miller, to provide a calming and sensible take on the whole business.

Things are not looking good for Warner Bros.’ The Flash solo movie. The DC Film already lost its director this past April, and now his replacement has dropped out.

The fastest man alive and the, uh, robotiest man alive? (Sorry, I don’t know Cyborg’s tagline. Does he have one? I don’t think he’s ever gotten one. The robotiest man alive works, I think.)